Forging history for children

artPastInside2004: Valley Oaks Charter School resource teacher Daran Francis worked up quite a sweat on July 20 pounding white hot metal into the shape of horseshoes. School wasn't in, and Francis wasn't teaching. What he was doing will prove to be of educational value for thousands of children across the United States.

Turns out, Francis was an actor, performing a role with which he is quite familiar. Several days out of the year, you can find him at the Kern County Museum showing visitors and school tours how he makes horseshoes and shoes horses. On this day, Francis was at Tracy Ranch in Buttonwillow, following the direction of Kern County Superintendent of Schools' Television Production Manager John Lenko. The two, along with several behind the scenes workers, were videotaping a segment that will be used in a future educational production called "Artifacts Past: Tools of the Trade."

This will be the seventh episode of Artifacts Past, written and produced by Kern County Superintendent of Schools Coordinator of Instructional Media Laurie Maclin. Each strictly adheres to California curriculum standards for grades 2-5. The productions provide students with information about history that happened at least 100-150 years ago, using realistic settings and artifacts that still exist today at museums, exhibits and elsewhere. The productions allow students to divide up into teams in the classroom to answer questions posed about artifacts seen in the video.

Often the actors are people who have firsthand knowledge of the artifacts they are using.

"Some of the artifacts don't exist in common use today," Lenko said. "You can still find practitioners who know the trades but not in as large numbers as they once were."

So, the production team often improvises. The Kern County Museum with a vast storehouse of historic replicas of old west buildings and artifacts is frequently called upon to be the background for episodes. Museum Curator Jeff Nickell and Collections Manager Lori Wear also serve as technical consultants on many of the shoots and provide artifacts. Trained craftsmen such as Francis lend their expertise. When the current episode needed a forge for the blacksmith, Tracy Ranch President J.B. Selvidge offered the production team use of the ranch and its forge.

"Blacksmithing at the Tracy Ranch has been a tradition since 1862," said Cyndi Crawford, an instructional resources clerk with the superintendent and assistant producer for the current episode of "Artifacts Past." "There are only so many places that can still boast of being able to make horseshoes from scratch, and Tracy Ranch is one of them. The horse Daran shoed was sort of related to the superintendent's office. Its owner is Monique Tomasello, Fiscal Services administrative secretary with the superintendent."

This "Artifacts" will cover tools used more than 150 years ago. In the classroom, students will learn about milliners, dress makers, blacksmiths and saddle makers and see how they plied their trades 150 years ago.

"We always try to incorporate how history has changed and what kinds of jobs students the age of those watching would be performing, such as apprentice to a blacksmith or assistant to a dressmaker," Lenko said. "Many times children would continue with the trade in which they apprenticed throughout their lives. It would have been a rare sight to see a woman driving a stagecoach back in the 1800s, but children of today are used to seeing women driving buses."

Previous episodes of "Artifacts Past" are in syndication through the Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT) to school districts throughout the United States. "Tools of the Trade" should be complete by September. At which time, it will air publicly on local educational channel KETN and be available for school checkout through the superintendent's Media Net Booking System. It is also slated for future syndication through AIT.
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